refinishing chromed plastic

[expjawa]

What are people doing to refinish chrome-plated plastic bits? Headlight bezels, reflector housings, fender ornaments, etc. Obviously, I could spray with silver paint, or the paints that are kinda-sorta almost chromey (but look more like aluminum). But none of that really looks right, if restoration is the goal...

 

[bits n pieces]

My buddy sprayed adhesive on his bezel then got aluminum foil and layed it on. He used the foil shiny side out. He was being careful and almost has no blemishes. I dont know what kind of adhesive however. Hes dead so i cant ask. It looked better than spraypaint but not quite like chrome.

 

[spectratone]

This stuff looks interesting;

http://alsacorp.com/strechchrome/index.html

I'm going to get some to redo a headlight reflector, and possibly
put on a tank I'm making.

 

[gcrank1]

Good smooth prep and careful spray might make a decent 'stand off' resembling vintage chrome. No downside to trying. In the 'old motorcycle days' we tended to flat black the stuff that no longer was decent enough chrome, but with so many bicycle parts now aluminum I think a tolerable alum paint job might be good.

 

[expjawa]

The parts I'm specifically thinking of are the bezels around the headlights on, say, a Spaceliner tank, or similar. Actually, I have the issue with my Ross Deluxe and Murray Meteorflite. Same deal - the headlight surround is turning yellow or dull grey. I could look for some sort of trick finish, either a candy paint or something that gives an anodized look. I might do that on Ross, since it's customized already, I might just continue down that road. The Murray, though, I kinda wanted to restore. Maybe a patinaed restoration is in order, even though that's a conflict in terms...

I did find a plater in southern California that claims to chrome plate plastic. But they're very expensive. Not sure if its worthwhile, the plating cost would exceed the cost of everything else going into the resto.

 

[sleepy]

Look into chrometechusa.com. I restore vintage model cars and promos; they do really nice work re-plating model car parts, bumpers, hubcaps, etc.

 

[ozzmonaut]

I've used the chrome paint for bezels. I laid it on in several thin coats until it was quite thick. Then I used 3M rubbing compound to bring out an even better shine.Then I gave it a light clearcoat. You don't want the clear coat thick enough to notice, just enough to keep the chrome paint from oxidizing.